Lawn-mower sharpener.



No. 850,922. v l PATENTBDAPR. 23. 1907.

M. T. GoToRTH @L N. R. SHEETS.

LAWN MOWER SHARPENER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 1e. 190s.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1."

PATBNTED APR. 23, 1907.

M. T. GOFORTH 6L N. R. SHEETS.

LAWN MOWER SHARPENER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.18, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

`UNITED STATES yPATENT oFFroE.

. MARSHALL T. GOFORTH AND NIAL R. SHEETS, OF WICHITA, KANSAS.

LAWNf-MOWER SHARPENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedApril 231907 Application filed August 16, 190e.y serai No. 330,922.

To all whom it may "concern:

Be it known vthat we, MARSHALL T. Go- FORTH and NIAL R. SHEETS, citizens of the United States, residing at Wichita, in the Atate the blades of the mower While the same are being sharpened, so that all of said blades will be acted upon equally by the grinding element.

A still further object of the invention is to provide novel means for moving the grinding or sharpening element along the blades without requiring any manipulation Vby the operator. p v

. With the above and other objects in view the invention consists of a bed having standards thereon, one of which is adjustable in relation to the other. A .longitudinallygrooved shaft is mounted within arms adjustably connected to the standards, and a grinding element and a power-transmitting device are vfeathered upon the shaft. A screw is secured to the stationary standard and extends loosely through an arm on the adjustable standard, and a gear is mounted to rotate thereon,'said gear meshing with the feathered gear. This screw is lengaged by a locking device on its gear, whereby when the gear is rotated the same is caused to travel along the thread of the screw and ycarry the feathered grinding element. Means are provided for rotating the shafts, and a drive'- pulley isemployed for rotating the wheels of a lawn-mower. after the same has been ositioned within the machine vso that its b ades will be contacted by the lgrindimg element.

tion of the machine, one wheel and the cross-v rod of a mower being shown by dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine. Flg. 3 is a face view of the gear on the screw-shaft,

said shaft being shown in section. `Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the device. transverse sectionl through the grindstone and its connections, and Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section through a portion of the shaft and the grindstone and its connections.

' kReferring to the figures by characters of reference, l'is a bed or base having a standard 2 immovably secured thereon, while another similar standard 3 is movably mounted upon the base. Each standard has an inwardly-extending arm 4, formed with an upright 5, .the or crotch 6.

ulprper end of which has a fork arm 7 is fulcrumed between -its ends to the upper end of each standard 2 and 3, as-,shown at 8, and one end of eachv arm is slotted longitudinally, as at 9. Within Fig. 5 is a` each slotl is swiveled an adjustingfscrew 10,

having a head 11 at one end, while its other end is threaded through a lug 12, outstanding from the standard to which the arm is connected. An upper or auxiliary arm 13 is fulcrumed at one end to the other end of each arm 7, and a longitudinally-slotted supporting-plate 14 is ivoted to each ofv the arms-7 and is adapter to be clamped against the arm- 13 thereabove by means of a set-screw 15, disposedwithin the slot in said plate.

An outstanding stud 16 is formed at the fulcrum of one of the arms 13 and constitutes a bearing fora large drive-gear 17,'having a crank-arm 18 thereon, whereby the same may be readily rotated manually. This gear end of a shaft 20, having a longitudinal groove 21 therein. This shaft extends loosely through the other arm 13 and has a and this element is clamped upon a sleeve 23, which is slidably mounted on the shaft 20. A screw 24 extends through the sleeve into the groove, so that said sleeve is capable of sliding upon the shaft, but must necessarily rotate therewith. A gear 25 is also secured on the sleeve 23 and has an annular flange 26 at its outer end. Y

i A screw-shaft 27 is immovably secured to the arm 13 of the stationary standard and extends loosely through the arm 13 on the other standard. A gear 28 is mounted to rotate on this shaft 27 and meshes with the gear 25. Independent lateral movement of the two gears is prevented by the flange 26. A locking-plate29 is pivoted upon one face of the gear 28, and by swinging one end of this meshes with a small gear 19, secured to one i grinding element 22, such as a grindstone,

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plate outward the other end is caused to engage the thread on the shaft 27, so that when gear 28 is rotated it will travel along the thread and impart a corresponding lateral movement to the gear 25 and the grinding element connected to itf Gear 19 meshes with gear 30, disposed at one end of a short shaft 31, journaled inthe upper arm 13 of the stationary standard 2, and a drive-pulley 32, formed of rubber or other material which will not readily slip, is secured to the other end of this shaft. A handle 38 is connected to the sleeve 23, so that lateral movement of the grinding element and the parts attached thereto may be produced manually, provided the gear 28 is unlocked from the shaft 27.

1n using this machine the standards 2 and 3 are adjusted toward each other, so that the lawn-mower to be sharpened will fit properlyl between them. The connecting-rod 34 of the mower is placed within the forks 6, Aand one of the wheels 35 will therefore be positioned directly below the pullev 32. The arms 13 are then adjusted vertically by releasing set-screws 15, and after the pulley 32 has been forced against one of the wheels 35 the arms 13 are locked by clamping the setscrews 15 against the plates 14'. This adjustment will bring the grinding element in contact with one of the blades of the mower. By rotating the drive-gear 17 rotary motion is transmitted. through the gear 19 to the shaft 20, and the-gear 25 on said shaft will rotate the gear 28. This last-mentioned gear will of course follow the thread of the shaft 27 and move the grinding element longitudinally of this shaft 2O while said element is being rotated'. The gear 19 rotates the gear 30, which in turn revolves pulley 32, and as this ulley is in frictional contact with vthe ,wheeii 35 of the mower said wheel 35 will be rotated and cause the rotation of the blades of the mower. lSaid blades will therefore be successively brought into contact with the rotating grinding element,-which in turn will be moved longitudinally of the shaft20. Af-

' ter the grinding element has moved the full length of this shaft the locking device 29 is released from the thread on shaft 27 and gear 28 and the grinding element 22 may be moved back to their initial positions and the grinding operations continued'. Should it be desiredto move the grinding element laterally without employing the screw-shaf t, it is merely necessary to unlock the gear 28 from said screw-shaft, and the grinding element can then be moved ylaterally by grasping the handle 33.

It will be understood that instead of providing a solid shaft 2O having a longitudinal Aroove 21 therein a tubular shaft having a ongitudinal slit may be substituted therefor. This construction is so obvious that illustration thereof is 'unnecessary l lost motion.

It Will be seen' that this machine is readily adjustable to lawn-mowers of various size and by providing a grinding element whic moves laterally while rotating and grinds the revolving mower-blades an even-grinding action is produced on all the blades, and the mower can therefore be quickly and efficiently sharpened. If desired, the grinding element may be locked upon its shaft by forcing the set-screw 24 thereagainst, and said grinding element can therefore be maintained stationary upon its shaft for the purpose of grinding any ordinary tools. Cone-bearings are preferably employed at the pivotal points 16, so that the parts canv always be kept tight and there will be no n The grinding element can of course be adjusted so as to sharpen the stationary blade of a lawn-mower as well as the curved rotary blades. v

The preferred form of the invention has been set forth in the foregoing description; but we do not limit ourselves thereto, as we are aware that modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages thereof, and we therefore reserve the .right to make such changes as fairly fall within the scope of the claims. 4

What is claimed is-- t 1.. A machine of the character described comprising standards, mower-frame-supporting devices connected to the standards, a grinding element rotatably supported by the standards, and means movable with said ele- IOO ment for contacting withand rotating a IXO 3. A machine of the character described comprising mower-frame-supporting means, a laIerally-movable rotatable element supported adjacent said means, a non-rotatable screw-shaft, a device upon said lshaft movable with the grinding element, and means u on sai'd device for detachably engaging the tllfread of the screw-shaft.

4. In a machine of the character described the combination with means for supporting a mower-frame; of a longitudinally-grooved shaft adjacent said means, a vgrinding element feathered upon said shaft, means for rotating the shaft and Yrindingelement, a non-rotatable screw-sha t, and means u on the screw-shaft and rotatable with the grinding element for moving said element laterally. I

5. Ina machine of the character described the {combinationl with mower supporting Szi means of a shaft rotatably mounted adjacent said means, a grinding element feathered upon the shaft, a non-rotatable' screw, means detachably engaging the screw and rotatable with said element for moving the element laterally, andahandle embracing and loosely connected to the rotatable element.

6. A machine of the character described comprising standards, mower-frame-supporting devices interposed between the standards, a laterally-movable rotatable grinding element, a non-rotatable screw-shaft supported by the standards, a device upon said shaft movable with the grinding device, and means upon the irstementioned device for dtgchably engaging the thread of the screws a t.

7. A machine of the character described comprising standards, mower-frame-supporting devices interposed between'the stand# ards, a -laterally-*movable rotatable grinding element, a non-rotatable screw-shaft supported by the standards, a device upon "said shaft movable with the grinding device, means upon the first-mentioned device for detachably engaging the thread of the screwshaft, and means for adjusting the grinding device vertically.

8. In a machine of the character described the combination with standards, andineans for holding a mower therebetween; of a laterally-movable rotatable grinding device supported by the standards, means for adjusting said device vertically, means for rotating the .grinding device,a nd means operated by the rotation of said device for imparting lateral movement thereto.

9. In a machine of the character described the combination with standards, and means for vholdinga mower therebetween; of a laterally-movable rotatable grinding device supported by the standards, means for adjust-v ing said device vertically, means forrotating the grinding device, means operated by the rotation of said device for imparting lateral movement thereto, and means rotatable with the grinding device forrotating the wheel of a mower su pported between the standards,

10. In a machine of the character described the combination with standards adjustable in relation to each other, and mower-l fraine-supporting devices interposed between the standards ;l of4 pivotally-connected arms adjust/ably'mounted upon the standards, a rotatable grinding device sup orted bv said l I y arms, a non-rotatable screw-s iaft carried by parting lateral movement to the grinding elcthe'arins, means upon and detachably engaging the thread of the screw-"shaft for imment during the rotation thereof, and means for rotating the grinding element.

11. In a machine of the character described the combination with standards ad- -justable in relation to' each other, and mowerframe-su porting devices interposed between the stan ards, of pivotally-connected arms adjustably mounted upon the standards, `a rotatable grinding device supported by said arms, a non-rotatable screw-shaft carried by the arms, means upon and detachably engag- 'pivotally-connected arms adjustably mounted upon the standards, a grooved shaftjournaled within the arms, a sleeve feathered upon said shaft, a grinding element u on the sleeve, a flanged gear upon said s eeve, a non-rotatable screw-shaft supported by the arms, a gear thereon meshing with the firstmentioned gear, means upon the gear on the screw #shaft for detachably engaging the thread of said shaft, and means. for rotating the grooved shaft.

13, In a machine of the character de scribed the combination with standards adjustably connected, and mower-supporting devices interposed between the standards; of pivotally-connected arms adjustably mounted upon the standards, a grooved shaft journaled within the arms, a sleeve feathered upon said shaft, a grinding element upon the sleeve, ajlanged gear upon said sleeve, a nonrotatable screw-shaft supported by the arms, a gear thereon meshing with the first-mentioned gear, means upon the gear on the screw-shaft for detachably engaging the thread of said shaft, means for rotating the grooved shaft, a mower-wheel-rotating device upon one of the standards, and means for transmitting rotary motion thereto from the grooved shaft.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto affixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

MARSHALL T. GOFORTH. NIAL R. SHEETS.' Witnesses:

J. E. FARROW, C. N. CARTWRIGHT.

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